We've got your back

Hello @Patchworks @Appleblossom I'm glad to hear you've avoided surgery for your bulging discs by rotating activities and keeping moving. I guess it's when nerve impingement gets worse it might be needed as with your husband @hanami. I'm trying to keep walking but it's occasionally crippling and the osteopath says there's a lot of muscle wastage. Do you have general fatigue with it? Perhaps that's my depression.

I need to follow your example and keep up with the gardening! Still working on bends vs squats.

@tyme I wouldn't discount your experience... it's probably important to manage your condition carefully so it doesn't worsen. So keep up those exercises.

Hopefully the OT can assess your home situation as well as your condition @ClockFace in identifying where NDIS can help. I appreciate it's pretty complicated. Do you have any idea how long it will take?

@Dimity Im probably expecting it to take until the end of Jan before Im in a position to make my application. Im currently getting evidence together. Its going to take me a long time though because I have a heap more illnesses and disabilities that I am applying for the NDIS for. I have skitzoaffective disorder, arthritis in my spine, knees, left hand and wrist, Type 2 Diabetes, Noise Sensitivity, Neuropathic pain, and Calcific Tedonitis (kinda like bone growing instead of tendons in my shoulders). They are investigating my sleep issues at the moment as well as my dizzyness and wonkyness I get in the morning and at night. I have a heap more issues that dont meet criteria as well. Bladder cancer, Hidradenitis Suppurativa, sleep apnea, restless legs, Venous insufficiency, migranes, GORD, etc.

For the past nearly 9 months, I have been seeing specialists and doctors. Having scans and tests galore trying to get to the bottom of some of my issues. Im on like 30 different medications a day. Ive got a few more specialists for the year but the one Im 'looking' forward to is the MACS clinic at the end of January. Its like a bunch of specialist reviewing my case, my medications etc trying to get some answers and help make a road map forward, probably the best opportunity I have on the books to get somewhere.

I went off work at the begining of the year on extended medical leave, thankfully my employer provides income protection though the cut in income hurts, especially with the increase in medical costs. Some months, many of them the costs are in excess of $2k. Leaving me around $1.3k a month to live on, or much less. Thankfully my Dad is helping though its all a loan, so I have to at some point pay him back somehow. Racked up like $25k with him so far.

That's a lot happening for you @ClockFace . I hope the Xmas-New Year shut-downs don't impede you too much. The conference of experts sounds promising...

Hello @Emelia8 , @Dimity , @ClockFace , @tyme , @Patchworks , @Zoe7

Painful morning this morning

Hope you are all OK my friends ❤️

Hugs @Shaz51

@Shaz51 I'm sorry to read you're having a tough morning. I took anti-inflammatories to be able to do my housework. I'm fortunate to be able to do it myself as I can't afford cleaners lol. Wishing your day improves xx

Hugs @Shaz51 😊♥

I am very fortunate in that I have a cleaner come in for two hours once a week, for which I am very grateful. I could not manage without her.

@Dimity @Patchworks @ClockFace @tyme 🌷🌻♥

@Emelia8 @Patchworks @Shaz51 @ClockFace @tyme @Appleblossom hope you're doing alright. I was given a set of exercises and told I should feel stretches not pain (ha). Getting up and down from floor level is a trial in itself. I'm only 2 days in so will try to persevere but I doubt I can continue if it doesn't improve.

I had an appointment with my new pain managment specialist. My understanding was that we would be looking at alterating my medication regime, like lowering one and adding another and looking at a spinal cord stimularot. Well, we did both kinda.

She is open to the idea of a spinal cord stimulator however, not while Im taking the level of pain medication Im on. Basically, she is of the opinion that I have become hypesensitive due to the amount of pain medication I take. My history shows that the way they have treated me with pain medicaition has not been the best and wouldnt be the way they would treat it now.

I dont really understand, if Im in pain, really severe pain then it stands to reason that I would be given pain medication, what do they do otherwise? Are you left to suffer in pain?

So, now I have to some how reduce my reliance on my pain medications. I have to start with a pain clinic to help. The pain doctor was really good and all but I cant really wrap my head around how I manage my pain without pain medication, when I have no other skills to manage it other than pain medication. They now want to take that away before they put in a device to treat the pain. Why didnt they do that before allowing my levels of pain medication to get this high? Why wasnt the option given rather than more pain medications? It wasnt like I wasnt seeing a pain management specialist, he was who increased the pain medications.

I get that they cant go straight to the spinal cord stimulator as any time they touch my back for anything it flares up. But Im not looking forward to the future of things in regards to my pain. Im trying to reduce now already, because I am that kind of idiot. Its not fun already. The pain management specialist I am seeing now is expecting it will take 2 years at least for me to deal with the level of pain medication Im on now.

To add to the fun, she has given me and I have made an appointment with, a specialist physio that is trained to deal with people like me who deal severe chronic pain and make programs that have this in mind. Thats because everytime I deal with a physio, we do a program and my pain worsens so quickly and I cant keep up with it for more than a couple of sessions. It will be interesting if he can get something to work.